The Damon Diaries
by blopty
Summary: Elena is a journalist, Damon is an actor. When Elena lands an interview with him, will she get more than a story out of it? -Damon/Elena, Matt/Elena - AU - Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

"You're kidding!" Elena Gilbert let out a mildly embarrassing, and rather childish squeal. "He said yes?"

Bonnie, her best friend and co-worker shushed her, her index finger pressing against her own lips. "Elena, shh! If anyone in the office hears you, they'll obviously try to out do you. Wait until _after_ the interview before you go around telling people."

Bonnie was right, no matter how wonderful the news seemed, she'd best keep quiet until the interview was finished.

"He agreed to meet with you Thursday, eight o'clock, _sharp_." Bonnie flipped open her datebook and tossed it across the desk at Elena before she could properly respond. "As your right hand woman, friend, and fellow Damon Salvatore fan, I advise we go shopping."

"Wait, wait, wait." Elena stopped her friend from heading into a banter about which stores were having sales. She knew it was coming, and as much as she wanted to talk about it, there was already a problem. "Thursday?" She wrinkled her eyebrows. "Like, two days from now Thursday?"

"Exactly, which is why we need to get to Barneys as soon as the clock strikes five tonight." Bonnie nodded her head, sneaking a glance at the clock. "One hour to go."

"I can't do it Thursday, Bon." Elena ran her fingers through her hair. She felt like smacking herself. The biggest actor – as far as she was concerned – in the world, and she had previous arangements.

"Why can't you?" Bonnie snapped. In her mind, there was _no_ reasonable excuse for this type of thing. "It's _Damon Salvatore,_ Elena!"

Elena pressed her fingers to her temples. "I know, but I promised Matt that I'd go see his parents with him tomorrow night. We won't be back until noon Thursday. I'm not even supposed to work Thursday, Bonnie!"

"Oh, right. I might have skipped that minor detail when I was setting you up for an interview with Hollywood's hottest actor. And I mean that in multiple ways." Bonnie was annoyed, and she had every right to be. The strings she had to pull to get her friend this interview rather than a "bigger" writer... Elena should be worshiping her.

"I know, I know." Elena sighed. "But I've canceled on him a dozen times already. I can't do it again."

"Yes, you can." Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "I weaseled you into an interview, one that any other journalist would have been thrilled about, and here you are canceling the biggest interview of your life to go play house with Matt?" Bonnie's words were heated, making Elena feel all that much worse.

"It's not that simple, Bon. I've promised him for the past eight months that I'd go see his parents again, and I haven't. I finally have a day off, I have to go see my fiance's parents."

"Elena Gilbert. You have the rest of your life to see the Donovan's, you have one day to see this magnificent Salvatore." Bonnie snapped, forcing a picture of the actor in front of Elena.

She sighed. He was absolutely stunning. "Alight," She nodded. "You're right, I know. I'll have to cancel again. Some wife I'm gonna be." She frowned down at Damon Salvatore's image. "Do you think his eyes are photoshopped?" She asked, knitting her eyebrows together.

"You'll find out in two days." Bonnie said, snagging the picture again. "Now get to work, we have less than an hour before Barney's is calling our names, and less than 48 hours before you get to meet_ this!_"

Elena was almost positive that Bonnie was more excited than she was, but she supposed, that if she weren't engaged, and nothing was stopping her, she'd be excited too. At this point, the only thing she was excited about was getting the inside scoop on Mr. Salvatore's new movie, and being a renowned writer, even if it was short-lived. This could be her big break.

The next hour was deathly slow. It seemed like every time Elena checked the clock, the hands hadn't moved. She was almost positive that the second-hand was the only one moving, the other two were failing to do their job. Much like she was as well.

At five, Bonnie popped her head into Elena's office. Her dark hair was ruffled like she'd been in a rush. "Ready?"

"Um, yeah, hold on a sec." Elena rummaged through some papers, sorting them into three piles, and finishing up her day's work. Once she'd finished, she grabbed her belongings and threw on her blazer. "I haven't told Matt yet." She admitted.

"That we're going to Barneys to work out some retail therapy, or that you're blowing him off?" Bonnie was blunt. You could always tell when she didn't agree with something, didn't like someone, anything. She wasn't afraid to say what she felt – and in that instant, she felt that Elena was blowing off her fiance, for the greater good, of course.

"Both." She shrugged sheepishly, as she fiddled with her phone sending Matt a text to let him know she'll be home later. "One confession down, one to go." She tried to put a positive spin on things, but both of them knew it wasn't working, because as they approached the elevator it was hitting her, hard.

Matt had always been good to her, he went along with nearly everything she said and got her everything she wanted. Except to be married. That – was entirely his idea. She loved him, she did, but marriage at her age? She was barely twenty-four, why did she want to be married so young? But she figured after all he'd done for her the past seven years, she could repay him with this. She knew for a fact that she wanted to marry him eventually, but right now didn't seem like the time. Oh well, _beggars can't be choosers._

The taxi ride was short, and relatively silent. The driver didn't pester them, like some tend to do, which to Elena is nearly the most annoying thing in the world, and Bonnie kept to herself, typing away on her own phone, presumably setting up meeting after meeting and emailing clients even though they weren't at work anymore. She liked to do things on her own time, that way her time at work with Elena could be spent gossiping or talking about totally inappropriate things such as their sex lives.

As they stepped out of the cab, Elena's phone rang. Matt. Damn, she thought, but picked it up anyway. "Hey." She made a worried face at Bonnie, who held in a giggle and walked through the store's entrance.

"Hey babe," He said, however she could barely hear him over the outrageously loud football players in the background. "Look, I'm tied up at work anyway." He explained. "So, go have fun, I'll see you around ten, probably."

"Oh, what happened?" Elena asked, now sifting through racks of expensive clothing. She was alone now, Bonnie made a beeline for the sales, and left Elena to chat with her husband-to-be.

"Oh," He sighed. He wasn't having fun. "One of the players is suing another. Stupid stuff that I've decided I want to be a part of." She heart someone shout in the background. "Hold on, Lena." He said, and his hand muffled the phone's speaker. "Guys!" She heard him snap. "Will you please act like adults for twenty seconds?" These two were obviously people Matt had known for a while now, because otherwise there is no way he would have been anything but lawyer-like. "Sorry," He said to her. "They're acting like toddlers."

"Sounds like a blast. I'll let you get back to work." She said, pulling a black pencil skirt off of a rack.

"Okay, Len?" He said, his tone much lighter now.

"Yeah?" She folded the skirt over her forearm and began walking to find Bonnie.

"I love you." He said.

Elena could detect a smile in his voice. She smiled to herself, "Love you too, Matty." She replied, before hanging up.

It didn't take long before she found Bonnie, her arms wrapped around an enormous armful of clothing and still looking.

"I really hope those are all 90% off," Elena's eyes widened as she saw the true amount of fabric nestled in Bonnie's protective grip.

"Not quite, but these-" Bonnie held up a pair of dresses. "Are 60% off, clearance! I'm saving hundreds of dollars here, Lena." She was much too happy.

"You're also spending hundreds." Elena pointed out. "Anyway, your money, I found this." She held up the simple black skirt.

"No." Bonnie said flatly. "That simply won't suffice."

"What are you talking about?" Elena pressed. She saw nothing wrong with the skirt.

"You're going to be meeting the most beautiful man on earth, you need to look like a siren, not like you're double your age." She said, bringing Greek mythology into the conversation.

"Sirens were supposedly half-bird." Elena pointed out. "I don't want to look like I belong in an aviary."

"You're going to look like the sexy human portion of the siren, in this. Plus, I've always thought of them as a mermaid type deal. You know, Disney doesn't get sexier than Ariel." Bonnie declared, holding up what looked to be nothing more than a little black dress.

"What exactly makes that so much different than this?" She asked, hinting at her own clothing selection.

"Go try it on." Bonnie pressed. "Or, you can just buy it and save it for Thursday."

"You're giving me a clothing ultimatum?"

"I am." She smirked. "One or the other, Miss Gilbert."

Elena snatched the dress out of Bonnie's hands and checked the price. It wasn't too outrageous, seeing as they set foot in Barneys, so she made her decision promptly. "I'll save it for Thursday." Silently, she thought, _that way, if it doesn't fit perfectly, I can wear normal interview clothes and bring it back. _Of course, she didn't tell Bonnie that.  
"Good girl." Bonnie praised. "However, I have to get out of here before I blow the entire year's paycheck on clothes." She exaggerated.

"You really should go to some sort of shopaholics anonymous meetings," Elena offered, completely joking. "Do they have those?"

"Duh." Bonnie rolled her eyes playfully. "Confessions of a Shopaholic, Bonnie Bennett edition."

They purchased their items left the store in near silence. They both had a lot on their minds – Damon Salvatore in particular.

"You've gotta tell me everything." Bonnie spoke up as Elena hailed another cab.

"About what?" She asked turning to face Bonnie.

"About _him._" Bonnie pointed at a teenager, who excitedly read a magazine with none other than Mr. Salvatore himself on the cover.

It was an excellent picture, that Elena had to acknowledge. He stood shirtless, covered in mud in front of a canopy of trees as a promotion for his new movie. As far as Elena could see, the cover page read something along the lines of _Damon Salvatore, Hollywood's modern-day Tarzan._ Which to Elena's understanding made absolutely no sense, as his new movie had nothing to do with living among apes, but she supposed that the company did anything to get him half naked on the cover of their beloved magazine.

"Modern day Tarzan?" She rolled her eyes.

Bonnie moaned. "I love me some monkey man."

Elena burst out laughing as they hopped in the taxi. Bonnie stated her address, since Elena lived no more than a half a block away, she usually walked home.

When the car came to a halt, the girls said their goodbyes and went separate ways, each still on the same internal topic, even though their point of views were much different. Bonnie was thinking simply about what she'd allow the Salvatore boy to do to her, while Elena thought about how the news about her interview with him would crush Matt.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you guys for the reviews :-)

Comments, ideas, suggestions, critique, etc. are all welcomed!

The next chapter things will start speeding up, I promise.

* * *

Elena woke up alone the next morning. Matt's side of the bed was seemingly untouched. Had he even been home?

Their cat was curled up at the foot of the bed, purring – or snoring, Elena wasn't sure. "Morning, Oli." She smiled, gently stroking the silky fur on Oliver's head.

He awoke with a startle, his head shot up. He clearly had been snoring, but the sound soon faded into a faint purr.

As much as she didn't want to leave the bed, she knew she had to. She'd already slept in. She needed to be at work in an hour.

After rushing to make herself presentable, sprinting down the street, and two pathetic attempts to hail a cab, she finally made it to work. Five minutes late, but hey, it could be worse, right?

The elevator was slow and felt muggy in the stale spring air. Two other people, whom she didn't know stepped out on the third floor, and her ride up was soon a solo event.

In the time span it took to climb half a dozen floors, she was writhing at the thought of telling Matt. How was she supposed to go about it? Every way she played the scenario in her head it ended poorly.

As the elevator _dinged_ and the doors opened, Bonnie was waiting with a scowl. "You're late." She said, trying to make it seem like the reason she was upset was work-related.

"Five minutes. Nobody else seems to have noticed." Elena declared pushing her way through a sea of people and into her office. Nobody was working yet, so she figured she was in the clear. "I'm only working until noon today." She announced, as Bonnie tightly closed the door behind them.

"I know, I know. But what did Matt say?" Bonnie gushed. She loved hearing about other people's personal drama, after all.

Elena picked through a stack of papers, uneasily. "I haven't told him yet." She sighed. "I didn't see him last night."

The familiar sound of her computer starting was the only one in the room. Bonnie seemed to have been racking her brain for a response.

"What do you mean, you didn't see him?" She asked. "You live with him."

"He said he got caught up at work, and oh, here he is now." Elena smirked, showing Bonnie a picture of Matt's smiling face on her phone's screen.

As Elena picked up the phone, Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You can't avoid it, just tell him or we'll cancel on Damon." With that, she gave her friend a wide-eyed stare, shook her head a bit, and left the room.

Elena suspected she'd be back, and sooner rather than later. But Matt was on the phone and Bonnie was right, she needed to talk to him. But she wanted to break the news in person.

"I get out at noon, so do you wanna grab lunch?" She asked, trying to sound as casual and non-urgent as possible.

"Yeah, sure babe. Sorry I didn't get to see you last night. I got home at two o'clock this morning, so I slept on the couch. Didn't want to wake you."

Well, at least he came home, Elena thought. "Jeez, what time did you have to go back in?"

"Six." He sighed – or yawned. Elena wasn't sure. He definitely sounded tired. "I figured you'd be up by then, but I take it you slept in today?" His voice was almost envious.

"Ugh, yes. I overslept." She sighed, "But, I should get to work." She said, glancing at the clock – almost 8:30? "I'll see you at one?" She asked.

"Usual spot?"

"Yes sir."

"See you then. Love you." He said, awaiting her response.

She replied with a "Love you too," and the lines were dropped.

In the silence of her office, she was bombarded by her own thoughts. Was he going to get mad? No, she had a legitimate reason to cancel – the interview of a lifetime! Actually, maybe it was only incredibly significant to her because she had an outrageous crush on Damon Salvatore, but it was definitely going to make the cover!

The day droned on, and when 11:30 rolled around, Bonnie and Elena had come up with a solid list of questions for Mr. Salvatore. But Elena had one last questions for Bonnie, about the interview.

"Where is it?"

"Where's what?" Bonnie asked, confused, thinking Elena was looking for a pen or something.

"The interview." Elena pressed.

"Read the notes I give you a little more closely next time, Lena." Bonnie sighed. They'd been over this. "It's all in there. But, it's before some photo shoot of his. I know, it's inconvenient, but at least you'll get to interview him, and see him strip." Bonnie concluded before rattling off some random street address not too far from the office they sat in now.

"Inconvenient doesn't even begin to cover that!" Elena said, her voice was stressed. "I'm going to have to bombard him with questions before he hops in front of a camera and then a failed shoot because of mental distress of something will be my fault!" She was being over-dramatic, she knew, but still that wasn't the point.

"Elena Gilbert." Bonnie snapped. "You're going to go to this interview and you're going to ask that beautiful man these questions," she held up a copy of their list. "And then you're going to smile, thank him for your time, go home, and get to work on your article. You're going to be professional, mostly, and you're going to make it work."

Bonnie was right. She was going to work with what she had. A cramped, quick interview was better than no interview at all. "You're right." She sighed, packing her things up. "I've gotta go tell Matt."

"Ooh, ouch. Alright, tell me what happens?" Bonnie raised a questioning eyebrow and slipped out of the room leaving Elena with her troubles once again.

Everything was slow getting there, the elevator, the traffic, even her own walking.

The little coffee shop run by a middle aged couple wasn't even two blocks away from her work. It sat almost in the middle of Elena's and Matt's offices, making it an easy lunch break destination.

The bell on the door dinged as she walked in. The place was modeled after an old 50's diner, and in the corner booth sat her fiance, sipping at a mug of coffee and scribbling in a notebook.

"I thought this was a lunch break?" She asked, smiling.

"It is." His returning smile was brighter than hers, and she felt bad, because he noticed. "What's wrong?" He asked, standing up and pressing his lips to her cheek before she sat down across from him.

"I have bad news." Her eyes dropped to the table.

"Spill it, Elena."

"I can't go tomorrow." She looked up to meet his eyes before quickly continuing. "Which maybe isn't such a bad thing, you have a few days off, so catch up on some sleep, watch football, do whatever."

He didn't respond for a moment, which made the lump in her throat grow even larger.

"Why?" Matt's tone was nearly hostile. "What could possibly be more important this time, Elena?"

"I- I have to work." She mumbled.

"You have to work? Really, because we've had this planned for _weeks_." Okay, so he was mad. Really mad.

"I know, but Bonnie got me an interview that I'll probably never be able to reschedule, and it was short notice and I'm sorry!" She blurted. Her words ran together in a jumbled mess.

"Right. Bonnie. You let her dictate you, Elena." Matt seethed.

"I do not! She's my friend, she's just trying to help!" Elena spat, considering his words after she reacted.

"Who's this interview with?" Matt practically barked.

"Um." She was nervous. Here comes the fire, she thought. "Uh, Da- Damon." She couldn't even get his name out before the waitress interrupted them.

"Can I get you two some drinks to start?" She smiled politely, entirely unaware of what was going on.

"No!" Matt snapped, not even looking at her.

She frowned, "I'll come back."

Elena watched as she nearly sprinted away.

"Damon? Damon who, Elena?"

"Salvatore." She gulped.

"So this is about your ridiculous celebrity crush?" He rolled his eyes, shoving his things back into his briefcase. "Well, I hope you have a good time. Maybe you can stay at Bonnie's tonight."

"What, why?" Elena felt like she'd been slapped.

"Because obviously Bonnie has a good idea of what you want, and I don't. So you can primp and do your stupid girly shit over there before you go see your little crush."

"Matt, it's not like that! Where are you going?" She screeched, as he got up out of his seat.

"Don't cause a scene, Lena." He growled. "I'm going back to work. I'm not in a good mood, and I'd rather not fight right now. So you stay with your girlfriend's tonight, and tell me about your interview with your boyfriend tomorrow."

"Matt," she whispered. "Just because I think this guy is attractive, doesn't mean that's the only reason I'm doing this interview. I don't overreact like this when you have a super gorgeous client, do I? I didn't plan on it, okay? It just came up. And if I can get a cover story out of it, I'm going to." Now she was the one snapping at him. "If you're going to be a jerk about it, fine, I'll stay with Bonnie. She at least acknowledges the fact that this is strictly professional, and not at all about my "_crush_" on Damon Salvatore. It's just an interview." Elena promised.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Elena." Matt mumbled before leaving her crumbling in the middle of a semi-crowded restaurant.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for the reviews! _

_I had to redo this chapter, as I didn't like my original version... I'm not so sure about this one either, so let me know what you think!_

_Also - comments, suggestions, critique, and ideas are always welcomed!_

_Thanks for reading :)_

* * *

When Bonnie got home from work, a motionless figure with a tear-streaked face sat in her living room watching what appeared to be bad TV. Elena whimpered, and picked her head up looking to Bonnie.

"Holy shit, Len, what happened?" She rushed to Elena's side, and pulled the crinkled dress from her grasp. That dress was way to expensive to be handled like that, but Bonnie tossed it aside and wrapped her arms around her friend.

"He told me to stay here." Elena murmured.

"Just let him cool off. It'll be fine." Was all Bonnie could get out before Elena let out what seemed like another gallon of tears. Bonnie had never seen her like this. She hardly ever cried.

It only took a few minutes. Soon the tears were dried and Elena was vowing to be strong and professional for the next 24 hours – and she kept her word.

At seven the next morning, Bonnie tossed the freshly dry-cleaned black dress into the bathroom.

A few minutes later Elena's hands smoothed the fabric over her torso. "This seems a little too racy." She said, examining herself in the mirror before Bonnie barged in.

The bandage dress was the appropriate length for an interview, but probably a tad too tight. It showed every curve on Elena's thin frame, which was a surprising amount considering how tiny she truly was.

"It's perfect." Bonnie declared. "Sure, it's tight, but you show hardly anything above the knee, and minimal cleavage."

Elena draped her now wavy hair over her shoulder, and walked out of the bathroom, past Bonnie.

The addition of black heels completed her outfit, and soon she was out the door, and heading to her interview.

When the cab stopped, she hardly noticed. She'd decided to just record the interview, and go back to it later to ease some of her stress, so she grabbed her fairly low quality recording equipment and hauled herself out of the car.

The building was huge, and super clean. She felt like she should even take her shoes off when she entered. After quietly making her way to the front desk, a woman directed her to the third floor. This elevator climbed much faster than that at her own work, and soon she was stepping off and onto the third floor. As it turned out, the third floor was simply a photo studio. For the most part, it was just massive rooms, a thin hallway, and countless electronics.

A tall, white haired man approached her. "You must be Ms. Gilbert?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." She mustered up a smile.

He gave her a "come on" hand gesture and began walking. He led her through what seemed like a maze, before reaching a giant white room. Two cameras were set up with blank backdrops, and three people were chatting in the corner. One older man, one young woman, and the black hair of a man standing back to her.

She couldn't believe it. This was really happening. She was about to meet Damon Salvatore. Calm, Elena. She thought. Calm.

The white haired man beside her smiled down at her. "You're the only extra on the set today. It'll just be us five. Damon said it was fine for you to interview him as long as you kept it brief, and didn't cause trouble." He smiled. "As for me, I love visitors."

"Oh, oh!" Elena was just now realizing, she was talking to the photographer. "You're the photographer! Uh." She couldn't place his name.

"George Amiro." He extended a hand, "Lovely to meet you, Ms. Gilbert."

Elena shook his hand. She'd never heard of him, but then again, she wasn't really up to date on her photographers, more so her writers. "Lovely to meet you, Mr. Amiro."

"Please, call me George." He insisted, before calling to Damon. As he coaxed Damon over to them, it was friendly, and almost unprofessional. Elena decided they must know each other fairly well.

Elena's palms began to sweat as soon as he turned around. His blue eyes were certainly not photoshopped, she could see them from twenty feet away.

"Your interviewer," George continued gesturing toward Elena, as Damon made his way over to them. "Elena Gilbert."

Damon forced, looking her up and down, and extended his hand. "Damon Salvatore. Can we make this quick?"

Elena shook his hand, leaving a faint, but disgusting film of perspiration on his skin, and nodded. "Yup. Where to?"

Damon led her to a smaller room with two couches, a coffee table, a kitchenette and a dining table. He shut the door behind them and flopped down on the couch.

Nervously, she set up her pathetic equipment, and pulled out a notebook just in case.

As soon as she clicked the recorder on, he began talking. "I know how these go, so I'll get it all out up front." He paused. "It seems all you reporters care about it whether or not I'm dating anyone, so to get that out of the way, I'm not. Yup, free man, okay? Second, the movie comes out October 31st, Halloween, yes. You have to wait over a month. Third, my illegitimate love child rumors? Not true. I didn't knock Katherine up. Is that all?"

Elena was borderline stunned. "That's actually not at all what I care about, no offense."

Damon sighed in relief – finally, a seemingly normal reporter. "Good."

"I actually wanted to ask you about your co-stars, work environment, etc. Not your personal life." Even though she was dying to know, but she managed to keep that a well hidden secret – from Damon at least. Obviously, Matt, not so much.

"Shoot." Damon said, stretching out on the sofa. He was clearly comfortable in her presence.

"Your brother, he's in the movie. Might I ask, if that's true, who he plays?"

"Stefan plays-" He thought about how to word it. "My love interest's, love interest. Does that make sense?"

Elena nodded. "So, Katherine's character's love interest?"

"Yup."

The rest of the interview went on like that. Formal questions, formal answers. Entirely professional.

Until the photographer called Damon in, and the interview was cut short.

"Sorry, Gilbert, I've gotta go." Damon smiled.

"It's fine. Thank you for this, uh, for your time." She began to pick up up her things.

"You know, it's uncanny how much you look like Katherine." He stated.

And it was, now that she thought about it. She'd been stopped on the street several times, but it never got to her. Aside from the subtle hair and eye color difference, height, and definitely their demeanor, they looked like siblings at the very least. But, Elena knew Katherine was much curvier and sexier than she could ever be.

"I do resemble her, I guess." She admitted.

"Are you two related?" He asked, thinking something through that Elena couldn't quite put a finger on.

The photographer, George, called again.

"No." Elena said, before Damon nodded. "I doubt it."

"Hold on a sec." He smiled. "I have an idea." He left to speak with George.

As she finished packing up, he met her at the door. "So I need to dispel these weird Katherine rumors, and you obviously need a piece that can put you on the cover of your little magazine, do you not?" He asked.

"Go on."

He inched closer to her until she could feel his breath. "Be in the shoot with me. Nothing scandalous, I promise. All clothes stay on, but you get a leg up on your story by promoting yourself this way, and I get rid of Katherine's crazy posse."

As much as Elena wanted to scream _yes, I'll do it! _She knew she couldn't. Matt would be infuriated. "I can't." She said glumly.

"Why not?" Damon was confused. Mostly because he was disappointed for reasons he couldn't figure out, but also because he truly did need a way to get rid of the rumors, and this seemed like a good plan. He hadn't thought of any other ways, so right now this Elena Gilbert was his only hope, seeing how there were no other eligible females on set.

"My fiance would be so mad. I already ditched him today to get this interview." Elena said before she could register her words.

A smirk crawled onto Damon's face. "What if I assured him it was strictly professional?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Mr. Salvatore." Elena smiled, even though she wasn't supposed to. His close proximity made her giddy. _What is wrong with me?_ She thought. _He's a client, and I'm getting married. Jeez Elena get it together. Stop being a...tramp. _Her insults to herself weren't helping her nerves.

"Damon." He corrected her. "Call me Damon."

"Okay, well, _Damon_," She tested his name out. "I should be getting home. I need to put this interview on paper." She moved past him, heading out the door.

"Elena, wait." He said, catching up to her, feeling a little odd that he called her by her first name. He wasn't being professional at all right then. "Is there any way to convince your boyfriend to allow it?"

"I don't need his permission." She felt oddly defensive. She wasn't Matt's property! "I'd just rather not screw anything else up right now." Her eyes met his, "I'm sorry, Mr. Salvatore." She made a point to not say his first name this time. She needed to keep herself professional, especially when people were watching from a few feet away.

"Alright, Ms. Gilbert." Damon backed away. He didn't want to push her. After all, she was engaged, that made her off limits, right? So he shouldn't spend more time with her anyway. It was for the best. "But, Elena?" Alright, so maybe he wasn't good with the boundaries thing.

"Yeah?" She asked, still ready to leave.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Finally, he mumbled, "Nothing," and she was on her way.

* * *

_Okay, okay, one more thing! _

_Should my chapters be longer? I feel like they're short and choppy?_

_Again, thank you for reading/reviews/etc. :)_


	4. Chapter 4

_Finally, here's what the movie is about... and a little sneak peak into the personal lives of Matt and Elena._

_Next chapter will be a bit more exciting, I think. It'll focus on Damon._

_ I finally have the story planned out from start to finish - which is something I **don't** do often. _

_Again, thank you for reviewing!_

* * *

_ Damon Salvatore, star of the Halloween thriller, _Night Stalkers_, is more dedicated to his work than most people realize. The movie centers around the fictitious town of Mystic Falls, and the creatures that supposedly lurk in the darkness; vampires, the blood-sucking monsters that drain the life from the town's residents, and werewolves, the mutant canines that could rip anything – including the feared vampires to shreds._

_ While Damon has been referred to as the "Modern-day Tarzan" by many, we're not quite sure why. Could it be because he plays the bad-boy vampire, living amongst the wolves? Or, could it be because his character – while not entirely human himself, falls for the beautiful and intruiging human girl? We have to wait to find out what goes on between our new Tarzan and Jane, but Damon so kindly agreed to meet for an interview to let us in on who plays who in _Night Stalkers_ and what goes behind the scenes._

Matt flipped the page of the following week's magazine. He still hadn't entirely forgiven Elena for blowing him off yet again, but he decided that she'd kept her word. The article was entirely professional.

It was nearing 8:00, and she would be home soon, so he dropped the magazine back on the table and decided that tonight was the night for confrontation. He waited a few days, in order to blow off some steam, and now that he was calm, it was time.

Awaiting her arrival, he signed some more documents regarding his current case. What he was going to say, he wasn't sure. He hated fighting with her, but when she practically refused to visit his family, it was downright rude. He and his parents hadn't had the best relationship growing up, so maybe she thought it was still like that. However, she'd know it wasn't if she went to visit once a year at the least. He was around her family – or what she had left of it constantly. Jeremy, her little brother was around on a weekly basis, and her aunt and uncle, Jenna and Alaric visited monthly.

It was time for her to visit his family, was it not?

Matt looked up at the sound of a key in the lock. His fiance burst through the doorway, a gigantic box in her dainty hands. "Oh, hi?" She seemed to question his being there. But then again, he hadn't really spoken to her the past week.

"Hey." He allowed a tiny smile as he stood up from his place on the couch, his paperwork cluttering the coffee table. He moved over to her, removing the box from her grasp. "What's all this?" He asked skeptically, "You didn't get fired, did you?"

She twisted her expression, and let out a short laugh. "No, opposite, actually. I got promoted, kind of. They want me to do an internet segment as well as the print. Apparently everyone liked my approach to the _Night Stalkers_ article. Management wants me to keep people up to date on movies and media now."

"That doesn't explain what this is." Matt peered into the box.

"It's just copies of stuff, mostly questions from readers, or just fan mail in general." Elena widened her eyes. "I didn't expect this type of reaction. I didn't write anything unusual."

"Apparently your approach was unique." Matt concluded, placing her things on the floor before holding up the new magazine. "I read it."

"You did?" She was shocked. Not only because he actually read her work, but because he was talking to her.

"Yeah, and I'm sorry." He admitted sheepishly, sitting back down on the couch.

She joined him, but sat a fair distance away. She almost felt awkward around him now.

Matt knew she wasn't going to say anything. She just waited for him to continue, so he did. "I know you were just working, obviously it helped your career." He paused, not knowing how to continue.

Her brown eyes were wide. She was nervous. She knew there was a "_but"_ coming.

"But," He brought his eyes up to meet hers. "If you're going to marry me, Elena, you have to be involved in my life, too." He figured that covered it well enough.

"I am." She insisted. "I'll go see your parents, Matt. I had fully planned on it, but that was a big interview. I couldn't just drop it!"

He sighed and refrained from rolling his eyes. His anger was building again, she was so selfish! "I know it was, but if we have kids? You're going to have to spend less time working, and more time with your family. You see your side of the family all the time, what's wrong with going to see mine once a year?"

"I'm nowhere near ready to have kids." She snapped. "I'm not even sure I want them. But, there's nothing wrong with going to see your family, it's just bad timing, okay?"

"You're too involved with work, Elena." Matt ran a hand through his messy hair. "I hardly see you anymore."

"You work constantly, too, Matt." She kept her voice even, calm.

"Maybe we just need to push back the wedding, you know? Give ourselves more time to pay for it." Their wedding was supposed to be in May the following year – 9 months away, but living in New York was expensive, as was their wedding.

This in no way hurt Elena's feelings, however she didn't want him to know that. "Are you sure? That seems a little drastic."

"Elena, between the two of us, we're making enough to get by comfortably, not necessarily pay thousands towards wedding plans every month unless we both work constantly like we have been. I'd rather spend more time with you now, and marry you later, than let this relationship die."

"It's not dying, Matt." She protested, feeling slightly guilty about her workaholic behavior as of late. Matt wanted more time with her. To a normal girl, that would be sweet, but to her, it simply meant putting her ever growing career on hold. Probably where it would stay for the rest of her life.

"Elena, how hard would it be for you to work a normal 40 hour work week, or even 50? You don't need to work 60 and 70 hours a week." He took her hands in his, tiredly. "I want to spend time with the woman I love."

His face was scorned, and it nearly broke her heart. She had to give in. So, she leaned over, planted a kiss on his lips and sighed. "Alright. I'll rearrange my schedule and go down to like 50 hours a week." Even that was a sacrifice after this promotion.

"Thank you." Matt said, pressing his lips to her forehead. "I'm going to go call Ellen."

Elena thought that is was a tad too late for him to call the wedding planner. "Shouldn't that wait until tomorrow?"

"No, trust me, she'll want to know now." He stood up, a removed his phone from his pocket before heading into their home office.

Elena knew he was right. It wasn't even 8:30 yet, Ellen was a night owl, and she would definitely want to know immediately what the new plans were. This would give her a new May wedding slot to fill for last-minute customers looking for a spring event, and she'd need as much time as she could to get them the perfect date and location for the fall.

Elena sighed, and pulled out her laptop from it's case beside her. She'd check her mail once more, shower, and finally crawl into bed beside her fiance for the first time in a week.

Her mailbox was crowded again. But, she wasn't working – she had to remind herself. So, she opened one email from Bonnie and promised that it'd be the only one.

"_LENA READ THIS! Wonder who it could be about? ;)"_ Was all the email said, with a link to an interview from a random media website.

Damon Salvatore's picture was plastered all over the page. After skimming the article, one portion caught her eye.

_Damon told us that he usually despises interviews, but has recently changed his mind. "Last week, a last minute interview came up." He told us. "I wasn't exactly excited for it. But as soon as this girl showed up, I changed my mind. She wasn't concerned with the usual invading questions about my private life, or what kind of underwear I prefer." Damon continued. Even though we later asked about everything from undies to Katherine...oops! "She asked about professional topics only. I think more interviewers, or publicists should take a page from her handbook."_

_ But sadly, when we asked who the mystery interviewer was – he was unable to reveal it. If, of all people, Damon Salvatore liked her, we want her on our team!"_

She was flattered, to say the least. Well, if it was indeed about her like Bonnie seemed to think. However, she decided to just push it aside, like everything else tonight, and head for the bath.


	5. Chapter 5

It'd only been a week and a half since he'd met her. Since she'd interviewed him so professionally. Since he'd kept his cool and refrained from making any less than vocational move on her... for the most part.

Damon met an outrageous amount of people on a daily basis, and if he were to be honest, he didn't like many of them. But she was different, that Elena Gilbert. He kept thinking of her, but why?

He was sitting in a large, plush chair in the center of an office belonging to the company event planner. He fiddled with the stupid nick-nacks on his desk.

The event planner, a hefty dark haired man, twirled the telephone's cord around his index finger nodding, like the person on the other line could see his agreement.

Damon lifted a photo off of the mahogany desk. The man, his wife, and daughter stood happily, smiling for the camera. Annoyed that the man was ignoring him at the time he had scheduled, he tapped the picture viciously. "Not bad, Rob." He said, his finger trailing down the daughter's body. "She must be what, twenty?" He smirked. "Prime age, have her give me a call."

The man snatched the photo from Damon's grasp before finishing up on the phone and apologizing to whoever was on the other end of the line. "Must you be such a pig?" He rolled his eyes. "Now what do you want, Damon? I have a lot to do today."

"I know. Which is why I'm here." Damon said proudly. "I need you to add two people to the guest list for tomorrow night."

"Damon, it may be a private party, but it's still going to be a work event, you can't bring two girls." Rob shook his head.

"Nope, not what I meant." Damon countered. "I need one girl added, a her plus one."

"For what?" He was suspicious. "You realize Katherine's going to be there, and you bringing a date after your last scandal is going to cause quite the commotion." Robert reminded him before pulling up the guest list on his computer.

"Please, Rob?" He pleaded. "Plus, she won't be my date. I'd just like to see her again."

"If I allow it will you get out of my hair?" He asked, clearly annoyed at Damon's presence.

"Yup. Immediately upon adding Elena Gilbert to that list."

Robert's eyes shot up to Damon's. "Elena Gilbert? The journalist that interviewed you a few weeks ago?"

"Um, yup." Damon was now nervous. How did he know about that? He planned parties, not interviews.

"There's a lot of talk about her lately amongst the company, her writing mostly, but your interview has brought her into the limelight." He said, inputting her name into the computer, and signaling that she was entitled to a plus one. "Do you know what the best way to contact her is?"

"No sir." Damon answered. "I'd say send an invitation to her house, the old fashion way."

"Alright, Damon. I'll have someone get me her information."

"Make sure it gets to her." Damon pressed as he stood up. "Take it to her personally if you have to."

"She must be one hell of an interviewer." Robert breathed, unaware that Damon could still hear him.

"She is." He assured her. "Thanks Rob." Damon extended his arm and shook the man's hand before excusing himself.

* * *

An hour later Damon was walking into his oversized penthouse. His tile floors and leather furniture were sparkling. The maid had obviously just been through. It was still morning, but he walked to his kitchen with shoes still on, the damp soles of his dark sneakers squeaking on the floor. His day off was about him, right? So why not drink?

The amber liquid he poured cascaded from the bottle and into his glass.

"Hey."

The voice startled him, and his bottle dropped, crashing against the granite counter top. "Dammit Stefan!" He breathed, turning to face his brother. "What are you doing here? Don't you have your own house?"

Stefan smiled and grabbed a towel from a nearby drawer, tossing it to his older sibling. "I do, but sense when are you so jumpy?" Damon was usually calm, cool, and collected.

Stefan lifted an eyebrow in anticipation of Damon's response.

"I'm just nervous, uh, big event tomorrow." His response was truthful, and his brother knew that, but he also knew Damon better than to believe that his nervousness was strictly the event in general.

"Who'd you invite?" He asked, dropping down on a bar stool across from Damon.

"Nobody." He said, jerking his head toward the elevator as it _dinged_, signaling someone was coming. "I'm going solo."

"No you're not." Katherine smiled, her heels sounding an annoying rhythm on the dark floors as she made her way over to the two Salvatores.

She draped a long arm over Damon's shoulders. "What happened here? You know what, never mind. Rumor has it, you're taking me." Her grin was evil. Damon wanted nothing more than to toss her out.

"Hence, rumor." He widened his eyes, almost looking to Stefan for some help but deciding against it.

"Please?" Katherine pleaded, her thick eyelashes fluttering.

"Why should I?" He asked, allowing his blue eyes to travel south of her face.

"I could give you a dozen reasons." She purred, seductively toying with the hem of her dress. "Or, Stefan here could take me." She switched her focus to the younger of the two.

Stefan just raised his eyebrows again, not sure what to say, and began picking up shattered glass.

"Fine." Damon mumbled, not willing to accept that she seemed to want his brother as much as she wanted him.

"What's that?" Katherine smiled, trailing her fingers down Damon's chest.

"I'll take you to the party, Katherine." Damon announced, catching her hand in his teasingly at first, and then giving it back to her. "But next time? Call before you show up uninvited."

"Yes sir." She grinned, planting a kiss on the corner of his lips, just far enough over so that he could consider it on the cheek – not lips. She didn't want to push her luck. "Bye boys."

They both watched silently as she strutted back to the elevator.

"Pretty solid relationship you've got there, Brother." Stefan smirked, tossing away the last of the broken bottle.

"Shut up." Damon sneered, wiping up the last bits of spilled bourbon before tossing the sopping towel at his brother, smacking his white t-shirt and leaving a stain.

"Really mature." Stefan scoffed, pulling his shirt out to take a better look.

Damon ignored him, pouring himself a drink from a new bottle, and gulping back the alcohol before continuing his interrupted conversation. "What _are_ you doing here?" He asked.

"It's our day off, thought we could do some brotherly bonding." Stefan smirked. His brother wasn't one for bonding, but like everyone else, Stefan heard some rumors, and he wanted to get to the bottom of them.


	6. Chapter 6

_Okay so finally, I've finished this chapter! Thank you guys so much for the reviews. Suggestions, criticism, etc. always welcomed. _

* * *

"Lena, mail." Matt called, stepping through the front door.

As promised, Elena had cut back her work schedule, and even though she was dying to get going on a new article for the next magazine, she was sitting nearly motionless on the couch in their living room, the TV on but inaudible. At the sound of Matt's voice she stood, and went to meet her fiance in the kitchen. He tossed the envelope across the counter, where it skidded to a halt in front of her.

Her fingers peeled at the paper, silently revealing an eggshell colored invitation. She read the invitation to herself before looking up at Matt, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I'm invited to some party." She declared, a bit unsure of what this company's party had to do with her.

"Really?" Matt asked, extending his hand for the paper. She dropped it into his palm, trying to read his expressions as he read the card. "Wow, this is big Len." He admitted, even though he knew her going meant she was bound to head back to work. "You should go. There will probably be big names there. If you want to be a better journalist _while working normal hours_," He stressed, "You have to go meet new people, right? Maybe you can land a job for this Mikaelson company. Whoever they are."

She was stunned. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yes, seriously." He nodded, a smile threatening his lips. He may not want her gone all the time, but he knew her job was something she loved, possibly more than him, so he couldn't try to keep her from it.

"Come with me?" She grinned.

"Elena Gilbert, are you asking me on a date?" He joked, moving around the counter, and to her side.

"I believe I am." She smiled again against his lips. "Is that a yes?"

"I believe it is."

* * *

"You're going to meet so many people, oh my God, Lena." Bonnie gushed through the phone's speaker.

"Yeah, which is why I need to not look like a train wreck." Elena sighed. She was nearly out of breath from tearing the house apart. She'd lost her earrings. A pair of diamonds that Matt had given her on her 22nd birthday.

Her dress was bunched around her thighs, she was bent over, looking like she was playing football, one shoe was on, while the other lay on the floor in the bedroom... or living room. It was somewhere. That didn't matter now, what mattered was that Matt was on his way home, and she was hunched over in the bathroom rummaging through old jewelry in hopes of finding the missing earrings.

"You'll be fine." Bonnie assured her. "Hm, try the little drawer closest to the wall." She offered. "You throw everything in there when you're cleaning."

"I wouldn't just toss Matt's earrings in – oh, yeah, apparently I would. Thank you! Bonnie, you're the greatest." Elena pulled two tiny stones out of the messy drawer. Shoving them maybe a bit too violently into her ears, she heard the door open. "Matt's here. Gotta go. Thanks, Bon, again. I owe you."

"I know." Bonnie joked. "Let me know how it goes?"

"Always." Elena promised before straightening her dress, and desperately trying to make her limp look normal as she made her way to the living room to say hello to her fiance, and search for her other shoe.

"You look... beautiful, but lop-sided." Matt smiled, kissing her cheek.

"Thank you, and, I know." She stated, looking around the room for the shoe.

"Looking for this?" Matt asked with a grin, her black heel in his hand.

"Yes." She nodded, taking the shoe from him. "Go get ready! We have to be there soon."

"Elena, I have plenty of time to get ready. I'm not a girl." He reminded her, walking toward the bedroom. "But yes ma'am."

Elena smiled, "I want to see you in a tux, Mr. Donovan."

"I'm aware." Matt called from his place in the bedroom.

In another hour and a half, the pair were standing outside of the venue stating their names. A large party hall played host to the event. Matt squeezed Elena's hand in reassurance before they were let through the tall double doors.

People crowded the room, occupying ever corner, and speckling the middle of the floor. Some mingling with co-workers, some schmoozing their way in with the bosses. Elena felt more than out of place, still not entirely sure what she was doing there.

They awkwardly walked into the room, doing their best to stay to themselves, not sure where to start.

Matt pulled two glasses of champagne off of a tray, and handed one to her. "Calm down, Elena." He ran his fingers along her jaw. "You'll be fine."

She nodded, and took a far too big of a gulp from her glass.

"Whoa, slow down there champ." A deep voice from her left cooed.

She snapped her head up in embarrassment. "What are you doing here?" She asked, her eyes meeting his electric blue irises.

Damon smiled. "I invited you, Ms. Gilbert." Elena felt Matt tense at her side before Damon directed his attention to him, extending a hand. "Damon Salvatore." He grinned.

"Matt Donovan." Matt nodded, still unsure about this. It hadn't registered with either he or Elena that this company was indeed one Damon worked for. Damon had invited them. Damon Salvatore.

Matt linked a protective arm around Elena's waist, before Damon's date came into the picture.

Katherine, looking lovely as ever in a floor length golden gown weaseled her way into the trio. "Is this Elena?" She asked Damon, pretending to be innocent, and flapping her long eyelashes.

"It is." Damon nodded, smiling.

Elena felt a bit uncomfortable. Why, or how did Katherine Pierce know who she was? With Damon's eyes tethered to hers, and Matt's hand securing her waist, she had no idea what to do.

In a pathetic attempt to ignore both uncomfortable gestures from the boys, she shifted in Matt's grip and dropped her eyes to the floor.

"Well, aren't you pretty." Katherine smirked, sensing her discomfort. "You look a lot like me."

Elena smiled, now incredibly uneasy. "I've been told that before." She let her eyes meet Damon's for a brief second, before moving her gaze to Matt.

"So," Damon interjected, trying to ease the growing tension and grab Elena's attention once more. "Ms. Gilbert, there's a few people I think you should meet."

"How about I take.. what's your name?" Katherine slithered up to Matt's side.

"Matt Donovan." He said calmly, trying to decipher Mr. Salvatore's intentions with his fiance.

"How about I take Mr. Donovan here, and you two can go do your work thing?" She offered.

Matt and Elena exchanged uneasy looks before Matt accepted her offer, and Katherine hauled him across the room, leaving Elena and Damon to themselves.

"So who is it exactly that I need to meet?" Elena asked, instantly calmer in Katherine's absence.

"Well, my brother, for one." Damon said, holding his arm out. "And my boss."

"Lead the way." Instinctively, Elena hooked her limb through his and allowed him to lead her into a circle.

Seven people stood chatting happily. Two blonde women, five men. Elena recognized one immediately, as Stefan Salvatore. He didn't look much like his brother, but she'd know him anywhere. He wasn't exactly easy to ignore.

The other six, Elena didn't recognize at all. She shifted uncomfortably in Damon's light, and surprisingly innocent grasp.

He noticed this. They were just making their way into the group, when he allowed himself to be more natural, less professional with her. But just this once, he told himself. The rest of the night was to be entirely business oriented, no matter how good she looked, or smelled, or... He shook his head, trying to literally shake the thoughts from his mind.

He plopped his hand down on top of hers, "You're stressing out already?"

"No." Elena answered a bit too quickly. "How can you even tell? I have the ultimate poker face."

"Maybe so, but you're rigid enough to be a corpse." He swung her arm a bit, which was still linked through his. "Loosen up!"

The crowd noticed them now, standing just a few feet off. Stefan Salvatore spoke first. "Damon, Damon, Damon, already switching your dates?" Stefan's tone wasn't hostile, more joking.

If Elena hadn't been excruciatingly uncomfortable then, she was now. Nothing like being second best... however, she had absolutely no right to feel that way. She was here on business terms, and her fiance, the man she loved, was thirty feet away even though it felt like miles.

Stefan watched intently as Elena slid her arm out of Damon's. He felt like he should apologize, but only to her, not his brother. "I'm Stefan Salvatore." He extended a hand, awaiting one of Damon's witty remarks, but none came. His brother was actually _behaving_!

"Elena Gilbert." She managed. _I shouldn't have come. I shouldn't have come. I shouldn't have come! _Her brain was in overdrive, but she managed to keep herself composed enough so that nobody would stare. She clearly just wasn't the hang-out-with-celebrities type.

"It's a pleasure," Stefan continued. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you doing with my brother?"

Damon perked up then. His silence, he realized, hadn't gone unnoticed. "I'm getting her some contacts." Damon said flatly, when he noticed Elena's head swivel to look for Matt.

The three talked for a moment, but Stefan soon ducked out and left Damon to introduce Elena to the rest of the group, who turned out to be none other than the Mikaelsons themselves.

"Elena, this is my boss, Klaus Mikaelson, and his family." Around the circle the names were spoken. They all had old, slightly strange names. Elena shook hands, smiled, and pretended she wasn't concerned with Katherine being alone with her boyfriend. Fiance, she meant fiance. Matt wasn't just her boyfriend. She was going to marry him. Next year, she was going to be Elena Donovan.

Why was she thinking about this right now? She was so unfocused, she was practically silently begging Damon to lead her away, disengage themselves from the group.

Oddly enough, he heard her silent plea. She said goodbye to those around her, only remembering four out of the six names. The girls, Rebekah and Caroline, was it? Shook her hand and decided to take her number for "personal calls." Apparently in her awkward, half-crazed, and full-nervous state, she was charming, to them at least.

Once Damon had her far enough away from the group he stopped walking. "What is wrong with you? You're acting like you're headed to slaughter."

"Charming." Elena sneered, now uneasy with the fact that Damon seemed to be able to read her a little too well. "I haven't even done anything!"

"Exactly." He wrinkled his eyebrows. "I thought I'd be doing you a favor by getting you an invite. Klaus could really use some help in the literacy department, and Caroline has just as much, if not more say in the company than he does, and she's been dying to have a friend in the office."

"So I'm supposed to schmooze my way up in the world? Pretend that I care about Caroline's petty poor-me-I-don't-have-time-to-go-shopping-on-my-lunch-break problems? Please. And what's wrong with Rebekah? They seemed like pretty good friends, doesn't she work for them?"

"Rebekah?" Damon laughed. "Rebekah doesn't work, she's more of the office pet. She's there to look pretty and be acknowledged." His faced turned somber now, though – as if finally registering her words. "And Caroline's nice, once you get to know her. She seems superficial, yeah, but she's rich. All rich people are. Even you, Elena Gilbert don't seem like the most down to earth person in the world. I mean, look at you!" He gestured.

So he was right, at that moment. She'd give him that. She did look just as stuck up as everyone else in the room. Diamonds hung in her ears, and around her neck, her dress was clearly expensive and she sported Louboutin pumps. "I'm dressed to fit in, if I would have come in Wal-Mart clothes, the stares would have multiplied." She countered his accusations. "And I'm not rich."

He ran his hand through his thick black hair, locking in her gaze for a moment. "Sure, sure. Look, I thought I was doing you a favor, okay? I know it's hard starting out, no matter what business you're in. Thought I could help a bit, apparently you don't need my help."

"I don't." She snapped, suddenly aware that maybe she'd said a few incredibly wrong things. "But thank you." Her eyes dropped to the floor.

He dropped his hand onto her shoulder, letting it slide down her arm, catching at her elbow. "It was nice meeting you, Elena Gilbert." He said, before he went to leave, but was interrupted.

Matt and Katherine came plowing across the floor, Katherine squealing with excitement. "I had the best idea!"

Damon rolled his eyes. "I wonder what it was..." He said, trying to make a beeline for the booze before Katherine caught him again, stopping him in his tracks and staring him down. Her chocolate eyes locked into his.

"I invited Matt and Elena here, to St. Barts with us next week!" She smiled.

Elena wasn't sure if the smile was fake. She seemed genuinely happy.

"St. Barts?" Damon asked, clearly unaware they were going on vacation.

"Yeah, Matt said they're getting married," She gestured toward Elena. "So, why not bring them along to one of the most beautiful places on earth, and they can have a.." She thought for a moment, apparently for the proper term, "Pre-wedding honey moon! Matt says Elena's a workaholic, so they might not even get one after the wedding. So why wait, right?"

Damon and Elena just stood, staring at her, speechless at first. Damon, because Katherine was acting as if they were a couple, which was outrageous. Elena, because Matt had shared details about her to this stranger.

"Well then." Damon managed trying not to bring attention to the fact that he and Katherine had no plans to head to St. Barts. "Uh."

"What do you think, Len?" Matt cut in, obviously thrilled about a vacation.

"I don't know if I'll be able to get off work..." Elena sighed, doing her best to look disappointed

"I can handle that." Katherine smiled, "I know a lot of people. I'm sure I can call in a favor."

And with that, Elena's only excuse was flung out the window, leaving her and Damon to feel extremely uncomfortable while Matt and Katherine went off pining over what excursions St. Barts would have to offer.

Elena's mind went from one thing to another in an instant. "I'm sorry." She blurted, still watching as her fiance left her side, talking to another woman.

"What?" Damon asked, twisting his head to face her now.

"I was rude, and ungrateful, and I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." Damon said, a lopsided grin creeping onto his lips.

Elena smiled, but once again, her eyes were locked to Damon's, like some unseen force was connecting them. After all, tonight he'd heard her silent pleas, cut into conversations at just the right moment, and made her more uneasy, but more comfortable at the same time than anyone in her life. Like even though he was a total stranger, at the same time they were friends almost. Acquaintances, maybe. He had seemingly gone out of his way to invite her here, so why not accept it, be thankful, and make the most of it? She broke the eye contact, but could still feel his gaze on her. "I need a drink."

He held out his arm for her to link herself to him once again, now wondering if this was typical or special treatment.

She slid her arm into his, shaking her thoughts and allowing herself to have fun for just one night, even if it was with a man other than her fiance.


	7. Chapter 7

_So sorry I've taken forever to update recently. I'd love to put out a chapter everyday, but I can't seem to get it right. I guess I'm just picky, so bear with me :)_

_As always thank you for the reviews, suggestions, etc._

* * *

It was wrong, and she knew it, but Elena was more excited to see Damon Salvatore out of his usual scripted, business oriented, surprisingly unique world, than she was to have a pre-wedding honeymoon.

Maybe last week they'd gotten a little too tipsy, but it was an open bar. The Mikaelsons had to have seen that coming.

They'd joked about how his character in _Night Stalkers_ was eerily similar to himself. He'd explained to Elena that even though his track record in relationships, quite frankly, sucked, he figured it was a hell of a lot better than being like his brother – brooding and uninvolved, unless Katherine decided that that day she wanted him. Elena had been surprised that Katherine seemed to switch between the two brothers, but then again, it wasn't any of her business.

They'd discussed Elena's career, and then Damon's, each revealing what exactly it was they wanted. They played twenty questions, each quizzing the other over their dates, who ironically had seemed to disappear. Damon wanted details on the wedding, how much time she had left of what he called _the single life,_ even though she was nowhere near single, and Elena wanted to know about his rendezvous with Katherine, and why she was so dead set on being with him 90% of the time, and Stefan the other 10%.

"She's just like that. Always has been, since Stefan and I met her." He'd begun to explain, but was cut off by the bartender removing his glass. Apparently, they were being placed on a water-only diet for the rest of the night in order for them to "remain professional." No more bourbon, martinis, beer, nothing, but that didn't stop them from having a good time.

It wasn't until the end of the night that Elena met up with Matt again, but the thing she held on to most about that night, eight days prior, were the last words spoken.

Damon had lifted his hand off the small of her back before he returned her to Matt, who was with Katherine walking toward them. That same lop-sided grin played on Damon's lips as she turned back to face him.

"I guess I'll see you next week." She smiled up at him.

"Looking forward to it, Gilbert." He smiled, and looked like he was about to plant a kiss on her when Matt and Katherine stepped into the picture, laughing. Matt slipped his arms around her waist and called his goodbyes over his shoulder as he'd led her out of the building, but for whatever reason she kept her head over her own shoulder as well, her eyes once again, locked into the blue staring back at her.

Now, as she shoved the last of her "vacation clothes" into her suitcase, she was almost giddy.

Matt strolled into the bedroom, ready to haul her bags out to the town car that Katherine had sent to pick them up. "You look awfully excited." He said, kissing her cheek. "I'm glad."

She let him carry the bags downstairs, loading them into the car without a complaint. It was silent as they rode, heading to meet Katherine and Damon, ready to board the private jet that would take them into the Caribbean island.

Forty five minutes later, the car was parked beside a good sized aircraft in the middle of a deserted runway. Nobody was in sight until Matt opened the doors, stepped out, and began unloading.

Elena sat alone in the car for a moment, gathering herself. She wasn't supposed to be excited (or nervous) to see another man. It was only because he was a celebrity, right? She and Matt were ready to jet off to a beautiful island with a pair of celebrities. This wasn't an everyday matter – which is precisely why she was excited. That was it. Her nerves were simply her fear of flying over water. That's all, nothing else.

She watched silently as Damon emerged from the plane, heading straight for Matt.

Elena clutched her purse and opened the car's door, going to help carry the luggage. She hadn't exactly packed light.

Damon tried to contain his smile, "Morning." He said, pulling the last of the bags from the trunk.

"Let me help." Elena said, trying to pry one of the smaller bags from his hands.

"No need." Damon insisted, ignoring her persistent attitude and following Matt up the stairs. A flight attendant of some sort took their bags, storing them elsewhere in the plane, but leaving the smaller carry-on bags for them to deal with.

Katherine was perched in a pillow like seat, sipping coffee and awaiting take off. "Good morning." She smiled. "Ready for St. Barts?"

Matt nodded and looked at Elena. "I think we are."

* * *

The place was beautiful. Elena couldn't decide whether it was the blue-green water smacking against the rocks outside the massive windows, the crystal clear pool that also overlooked the ocean, or the impeccable villa that she was most impressed with.

The minute their feet hit the boardwalk to the private retreat, Katherine seemed to disappear, leaving Damon to do her dirty work. Elena silently wondered why he put up with her, but soon remembered Katherine's seductive techniques, and stopped thinking about it. She didn't want to think about Damon with another woman... er, any woman. No, that's not right either. She didn't want to think about Damon naked. That's it. No nudity in regards to Damon Salvatore. She didn't want to think about it, or see it, or...

Matt's voice cut through her thoughts. "Elena?"

She shook her head, blinking her eyes a few times. It was just the two of them now, she couldn't see or hear Damon anywhere. "What?" She asked, still dazed.

"I said, where do you want these?" Matt picked the suitcases up off the ground. Their designated room was huge, white, and provided stunning views.

"Uh, I'll deal with it." She said, taking her bags and hauling them over to the closet. She didn't bother unpacking, not right now. Instead, she shoved the stuffed suitcases into the closet and went to see if the guys were done unloading everything.

Of course she got side-tracked. How couldn't she? Inconspicuously, she made her way down the wooden staircase, nothing covering her feet, and tramped into the white sand below the house.

Tiny grains clung to her toes as she walked slowly over to the water's edge. Her thoughts were still jumbled, but she decided it was from the plane. Long flight, Katherine's voice droning on and on about new stores and this and that.

They'd decided to sit paired, Katherine-Elena, and Damon-Matt, so they could "get acquainted." Matt's idea. Elena wasn't too pleased, but Damon caught her scowl and didn't do a very good job at holding back his laugh. At least he took enjoyment in it.

She was sitting now, her clothes a sandy mess when Damon's voice startled her. "Oh, I thought you were Katherine." He sighed. "Do you know where she's run off to?"

Elena just shook her head, standing up.

Damon looked at her for a minute, not sure what to do or say. He decided Katherine was a safe subject. "We're nearly a mile down the beach from any other villa, and yet she finds a way to leave. Typical."

"What do you mean?"

"She runs whenever something doesn't go how she plans, or after a fight, or apparently, even when she thinks she'd possibly be expected lug in her crap." He was irritated. First, she'd dragged him to St. Barts with Elena and her _fiance, _then, she beat it out of there as fast as possible when they finally got there? It wasn't like her, but at the same time, he couldn't say it wasn't possible she was just being selfish.

"Maybe she just needs some space. I mean, we're going to be crammed in one house for a week. She obviously couldn't take me for the length of the plane ride. She should have conditioned herself to my presence."

Damon laughed. "Maybe, but I'm hungry." He said. "With or without her, I'm getting dinner."

Elena smiled as he flicked his hand and raised an eyebrow as if asking, "coming?" She nodded, and walked beside him back up the stairs and into the villa.


End file.
